Wednesday, October 02, 2002

How strange, no furniture has been moved today. Not so strange was me getting sucked in to Out Of Time 2nd hand cd shop at lunchtime and getting some more Thunder. The first album Backstreet Symphony to replace my tape and also The Thrill Of It All which I've never had before. Bet you are glad you read that then!

Concluded last night that either Joan and I watch too much tv, or their aren't enough actors going around at the moment. We seemed to spend all evening saying - "wasn't she in Holby" or "He was in Casualty" or whatever. Very confusing when you are trying to appreciate them as someone else.

Joan is in Ipswich for a meeting today. Tracey brought her in but she will probably come home with me. Might stop for dinner on the way home if she finishes late enough.

Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Um, err, whoops. Maybe next week I'll manage to post every day again. Anyway, back in time we go. Weeeeeep, bleeeep, whooooosh, spong! There, through the time tunnel and out in the murky past of last Friday night.

Dinner at the White Horse was as tasty as ever. OK so I had the cottage pie which I've had before and Joan had the Chicken & Mushroom pie that she's had before but the menu isn't that varied so repetition is unavoidable. Mum & Richard then came back to our place for a game of very competetive Trivial Pursuit. I won! However, the stress and mental effort involved must have been too much for me as after getting up for a spot of breakfast on Saturday I decided to go back to bed for ½ an hour or so and ended up sleeping on until 12ish. Quite ridiculous and most unheard of for me. Still, I still feel refreshed today so it probably did me some good.

After a spot of tidying up and stuff we went out again in the evening. To Joan's boss and her bloke's house-warming bash. Very unexpected for it to happen and even more so for us to get an invite. He must be doing something right with her! Very nice house all told, if a bit bland in the decor and in need of major plumbing repairs in the bathroom. Still, those are the legacy of the former owners so we won't blame Tracey for them. They are sort of on the border between the villages of Kirton and Falkenham, just outside of Felixstowe. Not sure I'd want to live in the middle of nowhere like that myself (well, not within walking distance of the shops at least) but the peace and quiet must be nice sometimes. Mind you, compared to our old flat our house is vey quiet too. Nearly had to leave early as Tracey got an alarm call while we were there but in the end Peter dealt with it which saved everyone a lot of hassle. When we did finally wend our way home not only was it very foggy but the police were pretty active. We saw the helicopter hovering over various points between Felixstowe and Ipswich and saw several cars and a van on the move. Haven't seen anything in the news though.

Sunday saw Joan at work again so I once more confined myself to the study and ironed whilst coralling numerous internet-sourced tunes and herding them on to mini discs. Mainly some more Bassic but also some other stuff that was just floating rootless on my hard drive. I also got some reading in. Finished ...Shimmerism while I was waiting for Joan to come out of work on Friday night and can say I thoroughly enjoyed it. And not just because I'm in regular communication with the author either. Hopefully he will be able to get a sequel up and in print soon. Am now working my way through Peter Akroyd's Biography Of London (which sharp-brained readers may recall me mentioning when I bought it). I say working my way through, but it is not work at all being a wonderfully informative and easy read. Not the first book on our capital I have read but I've come across new things already. Just wish i had more spare time to spend wandering round London looking up some of the places and features mentioned.

The evening was occupied by the US Grand Prix. ITV have tapped in to Bernie Ecclestone's digital broadcasts so although we still have to suffer adverts and no widescreen the overall quality of the show was much better. Focus on the right moments of action, stacks more vantage points and cameras (some cracking on-car shots) and useful graphics too. Much better than what we were having to deal with. Of course if this becomes a permanent fixture I'm even less likely to pay £12 for the priviledge of the full package on Sky as this version was more than good enough. The most interested I've been in the middle of a race for years. And the end result was superb poetic justice too - Schumacher slowing down for a formation Ferrari finish and getting it a bit wrong so that Barrichello ended up taking the win. Classic cock-up! Makes up for the result in Austria though.

And so it was back to work for another week yesterday. Am now finishing up loose ends with the books to make sure they turn up on time and doing much the same with Park & Ride stuff for the gyratory. I guess that should keep me busy until November when I will have to find a new project of some description to keep me happy and busy. Of course I could always become a furniture mover as there seems to be a lot of that going on at the moment. 4 people have already shifted around this week and more will no doubt follow. We are supposed to be recruiting 4 new people soon and will have to squeeze them in as well as a possibel whole group move to make that possible around Christmas. I know we need a good clear out, but there must be an easier way!

Helping me start the week was one of those forgotten classics or "cd's I don't seem to have played for years that turn out to be much more superb than I remember them from before" to be more complicated than necessary. In other words, in the car has been Laughing On Judgement Day from Thunder which had me singing all the way in and out yesterday and in again today. What a damn classic that is. Good job I have no passengers really.

Oh, and I did pay the anticipated visit to the HMV sale yesterday too. As well as the superb new Wildhearts single I got the two System Of A Down albums (Toxicity is in the car now following the Thunder) and two more from Underworld - Dubnoheadwithmybassman and Second toughest in the Infants which I have on good authority are well worth the £2.99 and £4.99 I paid for them.